Key Takeaways Of The Notre Dame Defense From The Loss To USC

Key takeaways from the Notre Dame defense coming out of the 38-27 loss to USC

Notre Dame's defense has been quality for most of the season, but the unit struggled in the 38-27 loss to USC. The Irish defense was depleted in spots, but that isn't the reason they didn't play well. Even with the struggles, there were also some bright spots.

Here are my key takeaways of the defense from last night's loss.

Second Half Struggles .... Again - One of the most disappointing aspects of the Notre Dame defense has been its year long struggles to make adjustments, especially in the second half in response to what opponents do at halftime.

The early game plans were often quite good, although that isn't the case last night (see below). Coming out of halftime the defense offense either made bad adjustments, didn't adjust, or the adjustments weren't executed properly. That's why Notre Dame gave up 161 points in the second half of games this season, which is at least 27 points more than Notre Dame gave up in the regular season in 2021, 2020, 2019 or 2018.

USC came out and pushed the tempo aggressively against the Irish in the third quarter and got the ball down to the five-yard line before the Irish could even get them to a second down. Notre Dame struggled to adjust, and USC scored on each of its first two drives of the second half.

The defense isn't to blame for the turnovers by its offense, but part of being a great defense is responding well to adversity. After both of the turnovers from the offense, the Irish defense allowed USC to go down the field for touchdowns. The first score wasn't a short field either, as the USC offense had to go 74 yards to get that back breaking score.

Notre Dame's offense responded with a touchdown drive to counter, but the Irish defense allowed USC to go 75 yards on 10 plays to go back up 17. Not being able to come up with those key second half stops prevented Notre Dame from truly getting back in the game.

Run Game Plan Was Puzzling - Notre Dame treated USC's offense like the USC offense of past years. In recent seasons the Irish defense almost dared USC to run, and for good reason. Not only was USC not all that good at running the football back then, they didn't want to run the football.

Early on Notre Dame went with a 3-down, 3-linebacker look that made it hard to slow down the run. Notre Dame also brought a lot of run game stunts that were ineffective against USC's outside zone runs and mis-directions, which were prominent on film as well.

There were certainly execution mistakes on the first and second levels, but the game plan didn't put them in great position.

Depleted Secondary - Notre Dame played last night without cornerbacks Cam Hart and TaRiq Bracy, which was a devastating blow. Freshman cornerback Jaden Mickey was put in a tough spot last night and he didn't play well. Mickey has a bright future but last night was a rough matchup for him.

With Mickey being put in that spot and with Hart and Bracy out, the Irish needed other defensive backs to step up. Freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison was excellent again, and junior safety Xavier Watts was all over the field making plays.

The issue, however, was that other veterans didn't step up or play well. Senior safety Brandon Joseph had a rough night, taking poor angles to the ball and not taking on blocks well. Fifth-year senior DJ Brown also had his own space issues, and he blew a coverage assignment on a USC touchdown.

Third-And-Long Woes - One of the more puzzling aspects of this defense has been how bad it has been on third-and-long. Notre Dame struggled on third-down period against USC, but the third-and-long woes continued a season-long issue.

Notre Dame forced USC into a pair of third downs on each of its first two drives, but the Trojans converted the first three in order to put 10 quick points on the board. Notre Dame also allowed USC to convert - and score - on its only fourth down attempt of the game.

USC converted 9-13 third and fourth down attempts in the game, which played a major, major role in the Irish defense.

Veteran DL Battled - When the defense gets gashed the way the Irish unit did last night there aren't many standouts. Two players that did play hard, and play well, were end Isaiah Foskey and Jayson Ademilola.

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